Holloween
by Shenlong7
Summary: What could be worse for Ichigo than halloween? He's about to find out and meet his new Captain. But first he must find a way to win the woman he loves and protect her from the nightmare that threatens to consume them IChiXRuki HimeXChizu SadoXTatsu and mo
1. Chapter 1

Holloween

Chapter One: New Captain

Disclaimer: What the fuck do you think I own. I own jack shit except for OC's.

* * *

It was a nice and peaceful day in the soul society as Rukia sat under the rood of the building that housed third division, which she wasn't officially apart of since she held no specific chair at the moment. Her short black hair resting on the towel that dried it, but wetness still clung to each individual strand, leaving tiny wet spots on the already wet towel. The chill of coming out of hot shower still wet with tiny drops of water that were like gems on her porcelain skin, mixed with the heat of the sun made Rukia feel drowsy as he mind started wander into a dream. She never heard the door open to hear her older adoptive brother walk into the room; his steps were like a breeze pushing on the hard wood floor making no sound in the process. A slight smile crept on his face as he saw Rukia laying there on the floor like some small child, she looked so much like her sister, Byakuya's late wife. Byakuya made a coughing sound that made Rukia jump in fright and as a result, tumbled into the outside through the open door. She was still in her bathrobe and Byakuya would be damned if some random shinigami would take a look at her in such a state. He quickly threw a large blanket over her and brought her inside the house before anybody noticed anything, well everyone except one Zaraki Kenpachi, who was chuckling at the sight. His vice-captain did not see what he saw and when Yachiru heard him chuckling, she could only assume that he had finally gone crazy.

"Ken-chan's gone mad," chanted Yachiru as she jumped up and down on his shoulder, not noticing that she was causing half of the sereitei to panic by shouting such a thing. To them, if Zaraki acted like he did sane, what would he do when he was insane.

Rukia quickly dried off while her brother waited for her to finish, a thing she always found annoying since she felt he shouldn't feel embarrassed to see her in such a manner, but Byakuya felt it wasn't proper. As she dried herself she wondered what important orders Byakuya had for her since he wasn't her captain and as the new vice-captain for a yet to be named division that had no captain. Slipping into her shinigami uniform, Rukia told her brother that she was decent and waited for him to tell her she could sit.

"Might I ask what news you have for me onee-san," asked Rukia as she bowed towards him, but he told her it wasn't necessary.

"I would like you to know that we have decided to make Kurasaki-san an official shinigami instead of just a deputy," announced Byakuya in his monotone voice. "As such, he will be living down there until we have the fourteenth division compound set up and he will be a third seat."

"Why is he a third seat when he could be a captain or vice-captain for that matter," asked Rukia as she stood up in outrage at the lack of respect shown to Ichigo.

"Because he doesn't have that much experience in ordering troops and he will start off as a third seat instead of taking your position because your more knowledgeable about things than him," replied Byakuya. "Right now, we are about to send you and a few other Shinigami captains and vice-captains, down to where Kurasaki-san lives to inform Kurosaki-san of his new position and to convince your captain to come back."

"Convince my captain to come back? You don't mean your going to reinstate Urahara-san?"

"No, but he is an exile."

"Oh dear god," said Rukia as she realized who Byakuya was taking about. "You don't mean you want him to bring him back do you?"

"If you are referring to Saito Haijime then yes," replied Byakuya with dead serious eyes. Rukia was hoping that there was some sign that he was joking in those eyes, but she could find none.

"With all due respect, onee-san, it would be easier fighting the entire Arrancar army that it would be to do what you are asking," said Rukia as she looked at her brother as if he was stupid. "He was very bitter about having his right arm cut off by Yuruichi-san, who was his closest friend at the time, and on top of that we did it because we were afraid of his power. I doubt he would want to join us."

"It is true that we aren't his favorite group," said Byakuya, "But we can offer him something he would want in return. Thanks to Urahara-san's old notes on the arm before it was decayed completely so we were able to create an arm that is just like his right arm in power and size. This will be our gift to him so that we can get him to re-join us and Yuruichi-san will be helping us to coerce him to come back."

"Isn't it a bad idea to have Yuruichi-san anywhere near him," asked Rukia as she grimaced at the thought of what that sadist would do to Yuruichi if he appeared before her.

"Yuruichi-san and Saito-san have been staying in touch with each other during his exile, even if it wasn't a cheerful visit," said Byakuya. "Besides, Yuruichi says she'll be bringing a friend who will ensure that he won't turn violent on us or at least that's what she claims."

"That's all fine and good, but the fact remains that it would be like getting a better behaved Kenpachi with an even greater mental instability," exclaimed Rukia as she tried to find some way to change Byakuya's mind, but her brother would always go with the council's decision. "This is madness, complete and utter madness. I wander who that sadist is killing right now."

* * *

Tatsuki stared at her friend, Orihime, as she continued picking out items for dinner that were on the list of foods/flavors that are never meant to be mixed together and she reflected on how she had gotten into this mess. It must have been when she heard Orihime crying as soon as she got back from where ever she had been, Tatsuki never asked because she was glad that Orihime was there. When she asked Orihime what she was crying about, Orihime just replied that she had hurt herself, but Orihime knew that it was more than that. She later found out what it was from the silent Sado, who told her that Ichigo hadn't been able to return his love since he already seemed transfixed on Rukia. At that moment Tatsuki hated Ichigo and wanted to chew him out, but first she wanted to cheer Orihime up and so she agreed to join Orihime for dinner. That was her first mistake, she didn't offer to make the dinner herself. Her second mistake was that she told Orihime that she could decide what to make and now she was watching in horror as Orihime placed a jar of bean jam jelly, leaving Tatsuki to wonder what she would have to hold in.

Her Orihime senses were going ding as two goons started walking up to Orihime, both looking drunk and like they were up to no good as they staggered toward her like zombies. One of them had a really long pompadour and scar on his right cheek while the other one had spiky red hair with small sunglasses on. Their manner of dress was a high school uniform coat that was unbuttoned to reveal their muscular stomachs that had tattoos on them. As soon as Tatsuki smelled them she went into alert mode, ready to drop kick one of them if they even dared to lay a hand on Orihime, but what she should have been worried about was the green hair goon with the knife. She hadn't even heard his footsteps and he was able to get close enough to put a knife to her throat as a warning.

"I've heard about you Orihime-chan," said the goon with the knife. "I've also heard about your bodyguard here and so I'm prepared to deal with her, the question is are you prepared to live without her."

"What do you want," asked Orihime as she stared at the man, not in shock or horror, but with clear hatred and anger that the man liked.

"My name is Maiku and I am requesting your presence at my place," said the man as he put the knife even closer to Tatsuki's neck so that it cut her a bit. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist that you don't refuse."

Fate is like a dice roll, either you get the eleven or you get the snake eyes, no one can win and lose in fate except when a person looks at it closely. That roll of the dice was a clear win for Orihime as at that moment a guitar started playing. Everyone turned to see who this mysterious guitar player was to find it was a man with dark sunglasses, dressed in a black suit with a black dress shirt and a guitar case at his side. His straw hat covered his face with its wide brim and he was seemed to be one of those mystery men off of TV.

"Excuse me, but could you beat it buddy," said Maiku as he furrowed his eyebrows at the man and motioned for his friends to convince him to leave.

"Tell me something, does looking like a Yakuza make up for a lack of balls," said the man as he stopped strumming on the guitar.

"What the fuck did you just say to me," asked Maiku in rage. "Break his fucking face!"

The goon with the pompadour moved in to grab the man, but the man grabbed his arm and broke it into two pieces with a sickening snap. The other goon tried to come at him with a chair, but he was kicked back by the man and landed into a soda display.

"Don't you care what happens to this woman," asked Maiku as he pressed the knife more into Tatsuki's neck. "I'll kill this bitch if you take one more step."

"To tell you the truth kuso, I don't know her so the only thing I'm concerned with is beating the life out of you," replied the man as his hand went to the guitar case to reveal a sheathed sword that he placed, blade side up on his shoulder. "Now then I believe there is some unfinished business that we have."

"Wait, please save my friend, you have to mister," said Orihime with teary eyes and her hand up to cover her face. She looked like a child.

"Fine then, I'll save your friend," said the man as he hitched his shoulders.

"Did you not hear a word I said," asked Maiku, before he was hit over the head with the still sheathed sword. His vision became dark as he collapsed on the ground.

"Thank you," said Orihime bowing to the man who helped them, but he was too busy packing up to notice her bows. "Oh wait, can I get your name please."

"My name," said the man as he tipped his hat up to reveal a handsome face marred by a long scar over what was clearly a glass eye made with pure red and a black dot in the center, "Is Saito Haijime."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Hell No

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters in Bleach. By the way, please review to tell me what you think.

* * *

Ichigo tossed and turned in bed as his thoughts kept returning to a certain black haired shinigami whose shadow haunted his dreams, making him wonder when she would be back to visit or when he would be able to visit her again. At first he told himself that it was purely a friendship, keeping everything inside now that he didn't have a mother to protect his feelings from the evils of the world. That night he was having a naughty dream of her sitting on the desk next to his bed in a sexy playboy bunny costume that did something to accent the small breasts that were hidden under her shirt. Her legs were spread open to show him her wet core with a little tease as her eyes were hungry for him, the longing for him to touch her, to claim her body and make it his. As if on cue, Rukia appeared through a portal in his room and fell right onto his lap like some type of child, just like Nel Tu did whenever she saw him lying down, neglecting the fact that she was very sexually attractive.

"Hello Ichigo," said a cheerful Rukia as she smiled at him with a child like smile, but he was only just staring at her with shock and embarrassment. "What is it Ichigo? Is something wrong? You don't look too well."

"I'm s-so sor-sorry, Ru-Rukia," stuttered Ichigo as Rukia became aware of the enormous arousal that she was sitting on.

She quickly got off and waited for Ichigo to adjust himself before she turned around to look at him. She hadn't seen him for so long, but he hadn't change much, only difference was that he had a bit of a mustache and bit of hair under his chin, but mostly shrubs of hair. He was still as handsome as eer and he seemed to have developed a build while she was gone before looking deceivingly scrawny, but she hadn't had that much of a change herself, or at least that's what Ichigo thought. Her shinigami cloak hid the c-cups that she had been growing while he was away and she wasn't sure how he would like them since it seemed like a big change to her.

"So why are you here," asked Ichigo as he plopped down on his bed and patted the space right next to him as an invitation. "I thought that with the defeat of Aizen there would be no more reason for the soul society to even come here much less send a messenger here."

"There will always be soul reapers here and I'm here because you're going to be a full time shinigami," said Rukia as she gave him a smile, but was fully expecting him to refuse the offer.

"When do I go back then," asked Ichigo as he looked at her, a smile replacing the scowl he always wore.

"You mean you have no qualms with giving up everything in this life to come to the Soul Society," asked Rukia as she looked at him and then started poking him to make sure that he wasn't a mirage.

"Yes I'm fine giving up all of this to go to the Soul Society," said Ichigo as he sat back on his bed. "My soul reaper duties are conflicting with my duties as a student and I always knew that one day I would have to choose between one so I resolved that as soon as that happened I'd become a full time Shinigami."

"Well then congradulations, third seat Ichigo, you are now officially part of the new division being created," declared Rukia as she held her hand out towards the boy. "I'll be your vice captain and so that means that I will have no talking back at anytime, understand?"

"Wait you're my vice captain, then am I captain," asked Ichigo before Rukia slapped him so hard the head of soul was knocked out of his body for a brief moment.

"Don't be so cocky," scolded Rukia as she held him by one collar. "I said that you weren't allowed to back talk me anymore so you couldn't possibly be the captain and I already called you third seat. Weren't you listening?"

"To tell you the truth no," replied Ichigo as he looked at her and was then the victim of one of the greatest ass whippings of all time, leaving him beaten and bloodied. "Ow, hey wait a minute, if you're the vice-captain then whose the vice-captain?"

"He's close, closer than you think," said Rukia as she stopped talking to let the sound of someone playing Moonlight Sonata in the night.

"You don't mean that guy," asked Ichigo as he stared at her in horror. "That guy instructed the leader of the Kendo club and was probably one fo the most sadistic teachers that I ever met. He was so good with his sword, even thought he was using one arm to wield it."

"That's him," replied Rukia as she sighed and leaned against the wall. "But it's going to be tough to convince him to come back to us after what we did to him, including the exile."

"I'm sure he'd want to come back since it's his home after all," said Ichigo as he tilted his head up to look at him and found her face looking a bit more nervous than it was before Ichigo had said the comment. "What did you guys do to him, I mean he only has one arm?"

"The reason he has only one arm is because it was cut off by Yuruichi-sama," replied Rukia as she sat down right next to Ichigo. "As a cadet in the academy he was some sort of a genius, but when he became a captain he became a sadist as well as a genius, often using cruel training courses to whip his men into shape."

"How could you guys exile him for that when Mayuri had to have been worse and you only kicked him out when you got word of his defection to Aizen?"

"We didn't exile captain Saito haijime because he was cruel in his training. We actually praised him for that, even the ones who went through the training were singing his praises, but he always had one thing that made him stand out among the other captains, his sword's spirit."

"What about his sword's spirit," asked Ichigo as he sat up to look at her.

"His sword's spirit is a hollow," replied Rukia as she looked at him.

* * *

Sizuru ran from the invisible presence that was stalking her, she could feel it there, it's every foot step a tremor in the earth that only she could feel and she knew that for some unknown reason, the thing was after her. It was at that moment that she regretted wearing heels as they were about to give way at the pace she was running at and she knew that as soon as they broke and she stumbled forward that would be it, the monster would kill her without mercy in its heart. Running as fast as she could, she made her way to her apartment, the safe haven that was where the monster couldn't get her anymore, this was her place and when the monster would see that she wasn't afraid, it would leave. As she walked into the kitchen, she could smell this arid musk coming from all around her like an all out assault on her nose, but she waved it away as nothing more than the guy in the room above her having more than one can of beans for dinner and took out the tea kettle to make some tea that would calm her down. The tea kettle was a nice blue design with interesting characters of demons that were very artistic and at the same time disturbing of the actions that the depicted demons were doing, tearing people apart or caring on some other dark deed. It was the last thing her departed brother made before he was killed in a strange accident that police suspected it was foul play, but the wounds were made by something not seen before.

"If only he was here," she said aloud to herself as she looked out of the window in her kitchen.

With tea in hand, Sizuru went to call her best friend and lover who went to another school, Chiruzu to help calm her after facing death. Her left hand picked the phone off of its receiver while the other hand dialed Chiruzu's number, but Chizuru said hello, she never got an answer.

* * *

It was the first day of summer and already Ichigo had to get up early for his shinigami duties after spending the previous night explaining the situation to the family and having to see a crying Yuzu and Karin hugging onto him, begging him not to go. After promising to visit them when he left, Ichigo asked his father if he knew anything about Saito Haijime and was astonished at what he heard from his father. Rukia was wearing one of the little black dresses that Orihime had designed for her and she was sitting on Ichigo's shoulder like a child thanks to him losing a bet to her. They met up with Yuruichi who was wearing the same type of outfit she wore when they were in the Soul Society and she was accompanied by none other than Kukaku Shiba, the best fireworks expert in this life and the next.

"Why is she coming along," asked Ichigo as he pointed to her, which earned him a hard punch in the gut from Kukaku.

"Look here, the name is Kukaku Shiba, but you call Shib-sama, understand," commanded Kukaku with an evil look on her face. "Don't you ever try saying something like that again or I'll squish your nuts into guacamole."

"Yes Shiba-sama," said a terrified Ichigo as he bowed before her in apology.

"Now then I believe we should go see Saito-kun," said Kukaku as she walked towards the last house on Ichigo's block, the creepy abandoned house.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Oh Captain my Captain.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters of Bleach or the actually product of Bleach.

* * *

The house wasn't decayed in a condemned murder house sort of fashion, or any other style of decay, but it had all the makings of some type of haunted fun house, only lacking in the monsters to pop out. Rukia was practically latched on to Ichigo, her hands becoming claws as her fingernails dug deep into his arms, and she practically fainted when music started playing from practically nowhere. It was Moonlight Sonata, a Beethoven piece that was played at a slow pace to further incorporate the beauty of the song. Whoever was playing was very masterful in their finger work, but still they were only helping the house to appear frightening to them.

"That would be Saito-kun playing," said Kukaku with a grin as she started to pick up her pace towards the stairs. "He loves this piece to death."

"It's not him," said Yuruichi as she seemed to just look up the wall.

"What do you mean," asked the buxom woman as she turned to face her friend.

"He only has one arm, there is no way it's his arm," replied Rukia, knowing that it hurt Yuruichi to be reminded of the incident of how she had stabbed him in the back.

"The piano we gave him has a recording for his favorite Beethoven pieces," said Yuruichi as she walked up the stairs, her head looking down at her feet. "Urahara was the one who made the right choice by going against it and he was the one who made the piano for Saito-san."

The stairs gave off low moans as their feet touched the old wood, sending out creeks through the foundations of the house. The sound of the piano got louder as they walked closer and closer to the music, their heartbeats setting a tempo for the music as the music picked up to a faster pace, changing from Moonlight Sonata to Fur Eliz. The only person not moving at a cautious pace was Kukaku, who was very eager to see her gloomy friend and hopefully get him to cheer up a bit so he would come back. Light peered out of an opened door, pouring on the dark room like moonlight on a grey, seeming as ominous as the grim reaper himself, but still they walked towards it. Even Kukaku had slowed her pace down as the music started to turn darker and more oppressive, the player knew they were in his house and he was trying to show that they were unwelcome.

"You need to have better hospitality for me," shouted Kukaku as she stomped towards the door and peered into the room to find nothing but a lone piano and a casket. "What the hell, not this game again!"

"What is it Kukaku-sama," said Ichigo as he walked right by her and peered into the room as well. "Must have the piano set to play those pieces."

"Don't tell me he's out," moaned Yuruichi as she knew that he had developed the habit of wondering off to somewhere for months and showing back just as suddenly as he disappeared. "God now we'll never get him in time."

"In time for what," whispered a voice into her ear that made her jump in fright. Behind her was the man she was looking for dressed in a black kimono with a black hakama.

"God could you not do that ever again," asked Yuruichi as she glared at Saito.

"What it's not like you lost anything important," replied a laughing Saito as he brushed some of his black long black hair out of his face. "But what are you doing here?"

"Did you also forget me too," asked an angry Kukaku who was cracking her knuckle by flexing it.

"Oh Kukaku-chan, I didn't even see you there," said Saito just before her fist connected with his face in what was a blink of an eye, even for Yuruichi. "You still have the famous flash punch I see."

"I really do believe you are a masochist," replied a smiling Kukaku as she hugged him with her one arm.

"It's been far too long since we last saw each other," said Saito as he did the same in return. "Come, we can discuss what you have come ti discuss in the kitchen where I have other guests that I've been entertaining for an hour or so. I believe they are friends of yours, Ichigo Kurasaki."

"Who is here," asked Ichigo.

"Let's see, one of them is a buxom girl who has the oddest tastes I have ever seen in my entire life," replied Saito as he started to walk off with his arm over Kukaku's shoulder. "Her name is Orihime and the other two girls are named Tatsuki and Chizuru, it I remember correctly."

"How could you forget their names in such a small amount of time," asked Kukaku as she let out a sigh.

"Old habits die hard," replied Saito in a casual manner.

* * *

Tatsuki and Orihime tried their best to comfort their friend, or maybe hunter since she was always on the prowl, Chuzuru. Last night her best friend and on and off lover was murdered by some type of cult. The red head's hands were wiping away the tears from her eyes as her two friends stroked her hair and told her that everything was going to be okay, that they were going to be there for her when she needed it. Sitting across from them was the silent mountain of steel, Sado, who was just watching the two as they comforted their friend and he wondered why he was there since he never associated with the school lesbian, himself being a male. All he was doing was turning down another offer to join the vale tudo club because they could use his strength and his threshold for damage that made him as indestructible as a tank. Sado would always refuse to join, not because it was going against his ideas, but because he was always strangely nervous when standing next to the second strongest tournament fighter in Japan. Sado had never had a crush before, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he got every time she was near, a sort of fluttering feeling in his stomach that always made him uncomfortable.

"Don't worry Chuzuru, we'll be here to support you when you feel down," said Orihime as she slowly stroked her friends hair. "Please don't cry, Chuzuru, we don't want you to be sad."

"She's gone," sobbed Chizuru. "Shizuru is gone and I'm left alone without someone to love me."

"Your surrounded by friends, how are you alone," said a voice from the opposite side of her sitting position. It was the man who had lent her shelter when she was crying and had called her friends over to comfort her, Saito Haijime.

"But, the love that was shared between I and her," said Shizuru as she looked at the past memories of their love. "If she was still alive and we grew to a legal age, we would be getting married."

"Your pain is very understandable," replied Saito as he looked out at his garden behind the glass door. "I've lost many friends or they have lost me, but after time has passed, I find that there are others who can take their place. Right now you should try looking at the person who is to your left, Orihime-san, because she was the one who dragged Tatsuki over here."

"He's right," said Orihime as she held her friend close. "Would you let me take Shizuru's place to make you happy?"

"Now then, you two may leave to the garden to elaborate on your relationship," offered Saito as he pointed to the garden as he waited for the two girls to leave before he continued. "Now then, what have you come to ask of me?"

"Well, you know the majority of the soul society is sorry for what we all did to you," said Yuruichi as she knelt before him. "I, myself, am sorry for the role I played in the incident and for the wound I dealt you, even though we were great friends. We wish to make up for this fault by giving you back your rank and putting you in command of the newly formed fourteenth division."

"Would this have anything to do with the new hollow that attacked the girl's friend," asked Saito as he stared at her with a smirk as he saw her waver a little. "I could tell that the murder and you coming here with that offer were both related. It's harder to pull the walls over my eyes than it was years ago. Tell me why the hell I would like to rejoin the same organization betrayed me?"

"We have a gift for you, a right arm that was made from cultivated genes taken from your right arm," said Yuruichi as she took out a duffel bag that no one had noticed before.

She took out a right arm that was wrapped in black cloth and she held it out to him in the same manner a person would present a sword to their lord. The arm was as long as the original and had the same amount of reitetsu emanating from it as his original right arm. Hesitantly, Saito picked the right arm from her outstretched hands and placed it onto the stub where the right arm use to be and waited for Yuruichi or Rukia to attach the arm to the stub. To his surprise the arm attached itself to the stub, the fibers connecting and reviving the severed nerves in both the arm and the stub. Strong waves of pain hit Shenlong with the intensity of a thousand suns, bringing him to his knees as he gasped in pain, but the waves of pain resided, giving way to a strange calm in his body. He felt a hand on his shoulder, Kukaku's hand, and he rose to his feet.

"You don't have to accept the offer to get the hand," said Yuruichi as she held out the insignia of a captain. "All you have to do is decide whether you want to return or not, but until then, you will not be able to get back into the soul society, even if you were to die."

"Think about it, Saito-kun," whispered Kukaku into his ear. "If you come back, you and I would be able to see each other more often instead of these rare occasions. I miss you being in the soul society, I have few good opponents to fight with or people to talk to."

"You've managed to persuade me to come back," said Saito as he took the insignia from Yuruichi's hand. "But I'll need others if I want to hunt the creatures we're hunting."

"Creatures," asked Yuruichi as she turned her to the side a bit. "We thought it was only just one."

"Oh no there are more," replied Saito with a sadistic grin. "And there are more to come if we don't hurry."

* * *

Yeak i changed the Orihime pairing, but I wont do anything much with it until I do the sequel or have the side story as it's own fan fic. You decide. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Hunt

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, anime and product.

* * *

Ichigo turned to look at his new Captain as he squatted before them on a lamp post sniffing the air for any scent of the new hollow. His Captains uniform was very different in the armor that he kept on his captains cloak and his zanpakto was this cracked piece of junk, but in a demonstration of it's cutting edge, Saito had managed to slice through an truck. After moments of observing the captain, Ichigo could compare his similarities with other captains in his confident stride that seemed to mimic Kenpachi's and he had a blank, unemotional face that was reminiscent of Byakuya's. When other times he would appear on alert he would have moments where he was unobservant and open for any and all attacks that would come towards him. Of course, that was how Saito had wanted to come off to his third seat and his vice captain. In truth, he never let his hand stray a foot from his sword and his nose was constantly checking his surroundings in case there was another scent in the area. It was all part of his madness.

"So how do we track it down," asked Ichigo as he leaned against the side of a dry-cleaner.

"Keep your eyes open and your nose in tune for any smell that wasn't there before," replied Saito as he casually walked down the street like some Yakuza. "Combat assessment number one, never think of what the victims had in common and never try to look or a pattern. Combat assessment number two, this thing isn't arrancar nor is it a regular hollow so we must conclude that we'll have company from the second party."

"We're hunting the second party," commented Ichigo with that "I think you need to have your sanity checked" look. "Don't tell me you've gone off into other ideas."

"First off, as a third seat you take orders from me and you don't offer your three cents when I don't ask for it," scolded Saito as he stared at Ichigo with the eyes of a murderer. "Second thing, we're not hunting the second party, we're hunting the third party, the new party that has introduced itself. The arrancar are our natural enemy and have been in the picture longer than this new threat, which would be the third party."

"Sorry for my incompetence Captain Haijime," cried Ichigo as he dropped to his knees in a bow, terrified of his new captain.

"Get off the ground before you dirty your uniform," said Saito as he continued to walk on, stopping when another scent came into the picture. "One of them is near and it's found a target."

"Who," asked Ichigo as he felt something cold drop into his stomach.

* * *

Her footsteps pitter pattered against the street as Tatsuki walked to her house, having already left her two friends and she was thinking about what Chizuru had said to her just before he had left. Apparently, Chizuru had thought that she was also a lesbian from her tomboyish attitude and had told Tatsuki that she had mistaken the black haired girl for a boy when they first met. Even though she had made peace with herself over the fact that she acted more masculine than the other girls, but never had anyone ever told her that she reminded them of a boy. The matter had gripped her attention so much that she didn't even notice the presence that was getting closer towards her nor did she hear the loud thuds on the earth as heavy footsteps tore up the street. Tatsuki only noticed something was there when she caught its outline in the reflection of a window, standing at its full terrifying height as its claws extended towards her, but before they could touch her, she was rescued by Sado.

"What is that thing," cried Tatsuki as she stared at the outline of the monster and then the strange thing that covered Sado's arm. "Sado, what's with your arm?"

"You have to get out of here before it hurts you," replied Sado, bringing his fist back to cock the punch that he was about to throw.

"It is no longer necessary for you to be here," said a voice from on top of one of the buildings. It was the mysterious Saito Haijime, standing with Ichigo to his left and Rukia to his right. "Take the girl and leave now; this is far out of your power and jurisdiction."

"I can fight this thing," replied Sado as he got up ready for a punch, but Saito would have none of it and knocked Sado back.

"This isn't your fight," said Saito as he stepped towards the hollow creature and pushed his sword's hilt up a bit with his thumb, just enough the let a bit of cool metal taste the night air. "Now then, I don't know your full strength so in order to prevent me from overexerting myself, I'll start out with my basic zanpakto and we'll work up from there."

The hollow, or whatever it was, didn't seem to comprehend what he was saying until he unsheathed his sword then it got the message clear. Without a moment's hesitation, the hollow lashed it's claws at the shinigami, who flash stepped away from the attack and slashed at its hand in return. The creature howled as it grasped its damaged claw, leaving it open for other attacks all along it's body, but it didn't seem to have the ability to feel those wounds. It looked like it was nearly slashed to ribbons when Saito was through toying with the thing. A look of disappointment was in his eyes as he stared at the beast that he had been fighting before, but as he turned his head, it seemed like the creature wasn't finished at all. Like a butterfly of death crawling out of its cocoon, the creature shed its skin to reveal a singular entity that had a human appearance, but from the details of its new skin, there was nothing human about it.

"You transformed into something of more value, empty butterfly," said Saito as he put his hand of his sword. "From the power levels your giving off, I can tell that it would be an insult not to step it up to shikai. Now then, Slaughter Naraku!"

His sword then morphed into another sword that was longer with a sharper, fuller cutting edge and it had seemed to grow two other blades that were equally as sharp as the original. Another strange addition to the sword was the energy that it seemed to give off electrical energy as he spun it around in his head in hand like a baton, the blades cutting up the ground each time. The creature also had a weapon, but it was a straight sword that was wide in the curve to the tip, giving it a pressure cutting ability.

"What attack do you think it'll use, Naraku," asked Saito as he stared at the creature. To the surprise of everyone present, save for Saito and the creature, a hollow form of Saito materialized to his right, placing it's hand on his shoulder as it stared at the creature.

"**Maybe it will try to attack you with a sword thrust**," said the sinister voice of the entity known as Naraku.

"My money's on all out slashing," bet Saito as he moved into a thrusting position with his sword in his left hand instead of his right. "I think I'll use the new move I came up with."

"**Strike true, dear Saito,**" laughed Naraku as he dissipated.

Then it was on, the creature came at Saito with a sword thrust that was knocked away by a kido, but the creature followed up with a sword slash that forced Saito to jump back. If he was going to use that technique then he would have to keep the creature at a distance so he had room to perform his left arm thrust technique that he developed because he lost his right arm. The creature seemed to be a lot faster than he had expected, but he was able to avoid all attacks and get in a few cuts of his own. Jumping back, Saito cocked his left arm and aimed his thrust with god-like speed, piercing the creature's skull with the three blades.

"One down," said Saito as he sheathed his sword. "And nine more to go."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Into the Bear's Cave

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters of Beach this is just me using them for non-commercial profit.

* * *

The streets were bathed in the bright cheap orange glow of the street lights, leaving shadows in certain spots where things could pop out to grab them. Kukaku was patrolling the street as she walked up the abandoned street; the worst time to be walking the street by yourself with a dangerous hollow or hollows on the loose was definitely night. She and Yuruichi split up to cover more ground, but Kukaku would have much preferred that there was someone to back her up. It was too quiet for her taste, but then again she was used to having her loudmouth brother near so a lunch room in kindergarten would be too quiet for her. Turning a corner, she bumped into a smaller, black haired shinigami.

"So sorry, Shiba-san," said Rukia bowing as she tried to stifle the nose bleed she got from bumping into Kukaku.

"Don't go apologizing, baka," scolded Kukaku as she helped Rukia with her nose bleed. "What are you doing down here?"

"Captain Saito said that he sensed movement underground so he sent me to survey the sewer system," replied Rukia as she looked at the covering for the sewer. "I do not want to have to jump in there."

"Don't worry, I'll back you up," replied Kukaku as she pushed off the covering. "God this is really going to smell bad."

"Why me," asked Rukia with a sob before she jumped into the filthy hole.

* * *

Saito was cutting through the last of the hollows when he suddenly felt a strange presence coming from below his feet and he knew that it couldn't be good. Scratching his head, Saito looked at the ground that was before him waiting for the creature below to come out so he could just kill it and get over with it. Ichigo was right behind him fighting off another one of those creatures, _Gods knows how many there are_, and Saito decided that he had had enough of waiting so he blew a hole into the street and jumped into the tunnel. Strangely enough, there was no one inside of the tunnel and all he could see was the footsteps left in the sludge and whatever the hell that green stuff was. From the sandal imprints, he could reason that Kukaku and Rukia had been down that path and were probably being chased since the trail was right next to imprints that could have only been left by one or two of those creatures.

"Ichigo get down here, we have two women in trouble," called Saito from inside the hole, but he forgot to mention how slippery it was and that the floor was covered with an icky green slime, much to the misfortune of Ichigo.

"Eeeeewwww, you could have told me about this," exclaimed Ichigo as he looked at his shinigami uniform, which use to be black. "This is never gonna come out."

"Did I give you permission to bitch," asked Saito in the same tone he used to bark orders. "Get up and help me track the two girls don before they get killed!"

"Yes sir," replied a nervous Ichigo, worried about getting on the wrong side of his captain.

* * *

Rukia was running from the dangerous creature that was chasing her, its footprints leaving imprints into the ground as it approached her with its claws extended. Kukaku hurled one of her explosives into its face, the detonation blowing apart half of its head, but it still seemed to be coming at them. Behind that monster were three other monsters, all as hungry as the one in the front and from the looks of things they could run at the same speed for a long time, a luxury that Rukia did not share. Another luxury that she didn't share was the ability to see through fumes and mist that seemed to fill the tunnels of the sewer, which she would be certain to remind herself to never go into voluntarily ever again.

"Make a right," shouted Kukaku as she pulled the small shinigami into the curve so he could run down the other halls, but it turned out to be a dead end. "Okay, new plan, we fight them off right here."

"Just how do we do that," asked Rukia as she looked at the woman beside her and then at the creatures that were slowly coming out of the mist, like vampires in an old horror film.

"In case you didn't notice, we have no choice in the matter," replied Kukaku as she pulled out her own sword that was very thin and straight like jian. The hand guard on it was very round and cupped the hand like a saber except it was all around instead of just covering the knuckles. "I hope you have some luck with you."

"If I had luck then it's being lazy right now," replied Rukia as she cut at the extended claw that came toward her. The creature brought its hand back as it howled in pain.

Kukaku tossed her remaining explosive at the remnants of the creature's head, blowing it off completely to finish the thing off. It might have made Kukaku happy if there weren't others coming from behind and she knew that the explosive she had just flung was her last. Now she would have to use her strength and her sword, which she was both confident in, but going toe-to-toe with these creatures might be a bit of a problem. The creature right behind the other creature's corpse lunged at the two women and felt the searing pain of Kukaku's sword in it's hand as Rukia jumped up and cut at its face, but its head was stronger than the other creature's.

"What we need is a miracle," declared Rukia as she helped Kukaku fight the creature, while trying cut deeper into it. "If we don't get back up soon we might be in deep shit."

"Did anyone call for a miracle," asked Ichigo a she jumped into the fray to cut through the creature's head, letting it fall on the ground.

"Glad you're here, but now can you help us," asked Rukia as she pointed at the other creatures that were slowly making their way towards them.

"Don't worry, the captain's behind them," said Ichigo as he pointed to the smirking Saito, who had his released zanpakto in his left hand. In an instant, the shinigami captain had thrust his sword into the fray, tearing a hole in one of the creatures, while turning around to cute through another creature's head.

"Now then I think we have destroyed most of the creatures I want you to take Rukia back to the surface," commanded Saito as he placed his hands on Kukaku's shoulder. "I'm glad you're alright, I don't know if I could have taken losing you."

"It's okay, I can handle these things just fine," said Kukaku as she placed her hand on his own. "My god, you are overprotective, Captain Saito."

"I guess so," said Saito, smiling as he led the way out. "Our hunting is done for tonight, but I doubt this will be the last time we ever cross paths with such creatures. This Halloween was just the beginning."

* * *

This fan fic will continue after halloween. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Garden

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters of Bleach.

* * *

There he lay on the bed in his room as he took one last look at the room that had slept in for all of his life under the same roof that had housed his family for…he didn't know how many generations, but it had been his home for so long. Tonight would be Ichigo's last night in his home, for tomorrow he would be leaving to follow his captain and vice captain into the Soul Society, leaving behind a good deal of his friends and his family, but he knew that it was inevitable. From the moment when he ran that zanpakto through his stomach, Ichigo's life had been a countdown to this moment, the moment when he would leave his home for good to seek whatever destiny that awaited him. No turning back the clock, this would soon be the dawn of fate and there was no escaping what surely lay ahead for him, but he could only sit there and wait for morning to come. Nervous would be the correct word to tell how Ichigo felt, he could barely sleep during the night it was so bad, but yet he could manage some hours of sleep when he was granted that one piece instead of what others gave him. When morning came, he was greeted by the familiar feeling of his father's foot on his back as he received his last wakeup call that he would ever receive.

"You have a hell of a way of waking people up, dad," said Ichigo as he flipped his father over and held him down with his hand, all the while thinking about how his life had come to this, the journey out of the house seemed much greater than it was.

"Breakfast is ready, Ichigo," shouted Yuzu from downstairs as she started putting pancakes and waffles on plates right next to omelets that had been seasoned with parsley. "This is your last breakfast here so we might as well make it the best meal you ever had and we took the liberty of inviting some friends to join us and say good bye to you."

"You didn't have to go that far, but thank you, Yuzu, I'm really going to miss you," said Ichigo as he hugged his youngest sister for what could have been the last time and deep down in his sub-consciousness, he dreaded that it would be.

"I'll miss you as well, oni-san," said Yuzu as she cried into his shirt and then the doorbell rang signaling the arrival of the other friends for the last breakfast. They were all there, Sado, Tatsuki, Orihime, Chizuru, and Ishida were all there to bid a farewell to Ichigo before he had to leave their world and become the soul reaper that he had been destined to become.

"Aw, I hate that you have to go now, Ichigo-kun, but I'm glad that Rukia will be there so you won't be lonely," said Orihime before she started giving Yuzu some cooking tips that made Ichigo sort of glad that he was leaving and at the same time sorry for his father who would be forced to live with that. "If you cook jelly in peanut butter on medium for about two minutes then you can have the best basting sauce for the squid."

"Those things…kind of don't go together," said Tatsuki as she tried to prevent the little girl from being influenced by the odd cooking of Orihime.

"What do you mean, I always make that for my sandwich and it tastes really good," pleaded Orihime as she tried to defend the recipe that was making some of the people at the table a little less hungry than they were before.

* * *

"I've gone to see him, the night of the attack by the Comillos," said Tosen as he walked into the meeting place of the leaders of Hueco Mundo. "He seems to have gained most of his former power and the inner hollow in him has been able to regain its power as well, but at the same time he has regained his ability to control it."

"He fights with his inner hollow, that hollow is his zanpakto's spirit," said Aizen as he looked at the blind former soul reaper and then looked at the figure before him that was being used to represent the man they were talking about, Saito Haijime. "Where he got I do not know and the only person to have ever gotten a peek at his bankai is Yuruichi and I have never been able to get the information out of her so as to the amount of power he has is on the vague area. Though I think the real threat to us is the son of Ishen, he may have even more power than Saito."

The white stone throne that he sat on was the best seat in the room, which had a cushion on his throne and it was occupied by the head of everything, the man with all the power in the realm. The ruler of the realm was a man who liked to put others around him in doubt and could even make those who hated him work for his benefit by manipulating them. He enjoyed doing that, he loved to make his enemies work for him and he looked at one of the shinigami that he had brought with him and wondered if he should send Tosen out to fight the captain. That way he could get a sight of what Saito's bankai was so he could measure the strength of this new threat, once more he felt the regretting of letting Saito live as he figured Saito would never side with the Shinigami. Kukkaku, the reason that there was a new threat, could be the solution for it, but he didn't want another excursion to come tearing through here and killing off some of his Espada while gaining some other allies among his own rank.

"Send something after him or someone, we need something to go and attack him," ordered Aizen, but he saw that his subordinate was shifting around uncomfortably around telling him that something was conflicting with the order. "Have you already sent someone after him?"

"I sent one of the new espada, Slither, but he was defeated without even a flash of Bankai," replied Tosen as he bowed before his leader with a since of dread coming off of him as he did it. "We could try to lead the new breed after him, but we don't know any way to control them whatever they are and even the Novistador, has no idea what they are."

"We should then watch and wait for the perfect moment to wipe him off the board before he becomes a serious threat to us," declared Aizen as got up and picked up the figure. "The die has already been cast and we can only hope that the new breed keeps his eyes off of us."

* * *

Saito looked at himself in the mirror as he groomed himself with the a comb and knife, cutting his beard into a more refined beard that was fitting of a captain because he would have to seem like he was unaffected by the exile. His hair was something that he had always kept in perfect condition, but then again it wasn't as hard as it would be for other captains to maintain their hair, such as Captain Hitsugaya. Outside was his vice-captain looking at the garden that he had made with exotic plants and sand formations to match the zen Buddhist meditation that he did during his exile to keep his mind right. With the loss of his right arm came the loss of his ability to control the hollow that was inside of him and could only do it with the help of his zanpakto. After grooming his facial hair and the hair on his head, Captain Saito Haijime walked out into the garden and sat down beside his vice-captain for one of the heart-to-heart chat that he guessed he was supposed to have with his subordinates.

"Something is eating your mind, even though it will probably die of starvation, what is getting to you," asked Saito in his own way, which he threw it around indiscriminately at subordinate and superior alike.

"It's a bit hard for me to talk about since I haven't even talked to him about it," replied Rukia as she looked down at one of the symbols he had drawn in the sand, the kanji for the word "equilibrium."

"So I guess third seat Ichigo Kurasaki is on your mind, Rukia," said Saito casually as he got up and started to draw other symbols into the sand wanting to leave his mark on his house to prove that he had been there. "I can tell that you love him just as I can tell that you are too afraid to tell him how you feel because you are still haunted by the haunting of your past."

"Why are you so sure that you know what I'm feeling right now," asked Rukia as she started to get up and go find Ichigo to take him to the soul society, but really, she was going to take him with her. He was the one thing that still tied her to earth, the link between her and the friends she had made there.

"I too love another, a raven haired woman with such beauty that I am left in awe," said Saito without turning to face her, instead opting to look at his garden for one last time. "The hardest part of exile was being away from her and I have felt that deep within my heart, especially because she does not know how I feel. If there is one thing that I have learn from all my years, it's that the longer you wait to tell them, the harder it gets to say what you want. You must make a choice Rukia, whether to tell him how you feel or risk facing an even deeper pain than that of rejection. What will you choose?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Unleashed

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor is my hair bleached.

* * *

"Congratulations my son, this is your time to leave," said Isshin with tears in his eyes as he threw his son out of the comfort of his birth home to the mysterious future that lay ahead.

"Are you trying to kill your own son you crazy asshole," cried Ichigo as he was literally thrown out of his house by his father and landed right in front of a surprised Rukia.

"I-Ichigo," said Rukia a bit worried as she poked the teen with her fingers to see if he was alive and was nearly scared out of her dress when he brought his head up with a few blood spurts from his head. "Don't scare me like that you baka, I nearly had a heart attack!"

"You weren't just tossed a good mile by your crazy father so don't come crying to me," muttered Ichigo angrily as he got off the ground, bones snapping into place with sickening cracks, and he dusted himself off. "So where is the captain? Shouldn't we be going now?"

"Well apparently he would find us or something like that," replied Rukia in an unsure voice because she was just as confused by Captain Saito's words as Ichigo was. "I guess that means we go to Urahara's house and see if he's at that portal or he'll appear out of thin air before us."

"Something about the Captain is just not right," muttered Ichigo as he trudged along beside Rukia, but as soon as he turned a corner, a sudden tremor shook his body as he felt a huge sense of hollow nearby and a huge amount of spiritual energy being unleashed. "What is this sensation? It's off the charts!"

Rukia was already running when Ichigo started asking questions he already knew the answer too because the spiritual energy being emitted was most definitely the Captain's energy, Ichigo had been around him too long not to know it. So he ran after Rukia, hoping to catch up, but his own joints were still healing from the previous throw so he would have to turn into a shinigami. It was just his luck that he had to trip at that exact moment and that he had to have been watched by Tousen, well tracked since Tousen is blind after all. As soon as Ichigo was down he felt a blade being pressed to his neck and he turned to see the treacherous ex-shinigami facing "looking" down on him with a blank expression on his face.

"If you move one inch you will be killed," said Tousen as he pressed the blade into Ichigo's throat, giving it a slight cut just to show how serious he was. "You will be a good bargaining chip to get your Captain to show off bankai."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Tousen," said Urahara as he appeared with his zanpakto drawn from his cane and pointed at Tousen, who now seemed a bit unsure of the circumstances that he was facing now. "I've heard about your own bankai and I think I know the perfect way to counter it so if you wish to try I will put my new product to the test."

"A fight between you is unnecessary, the only thing I had to do is make sure that Saito Haijime released his bankai," replied Tousen before he vanished off with one of his portals.

"Come on up Ichigo, you should be more careful of where you land," said Urahara as he pulled Ichigo up and set him on his feet.

"Give me a break I had a bit of a crash landing," cried Ichigo before turning and running. "Thanks for the help but I have to help my captain."

* * *

Rukia didn't know what she was watching; it all seemed so unreal as she saw one of the espada, some nameless one that had taken the place of Grimjaw, being take down by a jab from Saito. The captain was barely visible as he moved around in a flash, appearing at one direction and then going off into another direction like some form of phantasm. As the espada parried each attack with just as much grace as the offending slash, Rukia saw that neither was really putting any effort into it, just getting an estimate of the other's power. It was after five minutes of this that she could see a depraved grin spreading across his face that sent shivers down Rukia's spine as she could see the animal instincts.

The swords clashed with the metal clanged against each other metal and the espada was taken aback at how much his opponent's demeanor had changed and by extension, the change in fighting style. The shinigami was being aggressive to an extreme extent, using his thrusts to keep his opponent on his feet while he quickly started to power up a demon ball kido that would hurt him. With a war cry, Saito drove the kido at his opponent who jumped back from the attack and erected a shield to cause the ball to explode in his face.

"You see how insignificant those little kidos are when compared to my shield," asked the espada as he grinned triumphantly at the smoke that Saito been immersed in and he thrust zanpakto into the smoke. "I am unlike that other weak espada you took out, I am at a level that is reflective of my greatness."

"I have to admit, you make up for the disappointment that you sent before," replied Saito as he held the blade in his newly revealed black gauntlet that was in the resemblance of hollow claw. "I will greatly enjoy give you a taste of my bankai at seal release six. That is the lowest level all the way up to zero."

"What are you," gasped the espada as he took a step back at the newly revealed bankai that was in the form of a new looking hollow with the legs that bent backwards and what looked like black metal covering a red reptilian form that had a the head of a horned dragon.

"This is my bankai and it involves me taking on the form of my zanpakto's spirit, Sesshomaru," replied Saito in a very eerie voice that was both deep and raspy. "This is the exact reason why the soul society went to war against me and had me banished, feel honored to die by my sword now, for you will be part of my zanpakto."

Then it was all just a blur as Saito started to move slowly, breaking up the earth with his powerful feet and then he shifted his sword into his left hand to perform his powerful thrust. A sound like something ripping roared in the air as the sound barrier was broken by Saito's thrust, which slowed down as soon as it was close to the espada. The espada blocked the attack by jerking his sword up and then he countered with a hollow blast that Saito dodged. After dodging the attack, Saito used it as a catalyst to jump off and then landed right behind the espada, who turned to slash, but Saito had already pushed his left claw right through the espada.

Blood burst from the espada's mouth and he felt himself being lifted up from the hole that was in his chest as Saito brought him up with one arm and then most savagely started to consume the espada. Rukia's body was shaken with spasms of sheer terror at the gruesome sight that was being displayed before he and she could only stop to think about how much she wished she wasn't alone there. Two strong, warm arms wrapped around her and Rukia was calmed by the shinigami that she had grown attached to, Ichigo Kurasaki.

"Don't worry, our captain isn't this scene of slaughter," whispered Ichigo into her ear and then, without thinking, he kissed her neck. Rukia didn't care about the kiss, it was just another thing to calm her down and she grew to find absolution in his whisperings in her ear that drowned out the sound of the espada's screaming, which was followed by a bone chilling silence.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: True Enemy

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

* * *

The soul society seemed to always have the perfect weather for everyday, or so it seemed to Ichigo, but he was an outsider not knowing any other part than the peaceful districts that he had visited. Never the other terrible districts filled with scum, killers, pedophiles, drug addicts, extortionist, assassins, perverts, hookers, and all other types of degenerates of society. Saito Haijime couldn't help but think of how long it had been since he was one of them until the day when Kukaku arrived in the pawn store that he worked at. He remembered that she was wearing that same red outfit that she wore every day with her massive breasts bursting out of it, but on her shoulders was a cloak that she used to show that she was of a noble family or a person of great standing. Those were those people that Saito always avoided because he couldn't stand those nobles or those people who felt better than him because they could live in a big house with comfort while he slept on a damn cold ass floor. Saito loved to think that he wasn't influenced by his environment, but it was untrue because he had a streak of violence because he was in there, that hell hole, and he never did anything in his life to end up there, he just was.

He watched her walk in like a cheetah observes its prey before it prepares for the pounce and then noticed the two big men escorting her in. It would be tough with them, but it would be a fun fight, of that Saito was sure of. Strangely she dismissed them and told them to go wait outside while she looked at the other objects that aligned the shelves of the stop, but he actually admired her ability to sort through the crap and get to the good things. For some reason she didn't seem to notice him looking at her, eyes intent with only one thing on his mind, to get some tail, but as soon as he started to fantasize she turned and gave him a look that made him think she could read his thoughts.

"I know what you're thinking and you should get a life," said the woman in red as she sighed at him, _the bitch actually sighed at me like I was some low class bumpkin._ "You could never have any chance of raping me or stealing any of my money like I know you're having right now."

"Yeah, well what do you know, bitch," retorted Saito as he scowled at the woman and then he started to bawl his fists so he could be ready to throw a punch if he didn't like the tone of her next sentence.

"I know that I'm Kukkaku Shiba and I don't take shit from the likes of you," replied the woman and as soon as he tried to hit her in the face, he found himself flying forward into a wall. "And I can kick your sorry ass, so remember that I'm tougher than most of the pussies who walk around here."

"That's okay, now I can see your breasts," replied Saito as he got up hold a piece of her front shirt, which left her right breast open to the air and only served to bring Saito more pain as she sent her left fist crashing into his stomach, temporarily damaging some of his internal organs.

"Well now I think that little scar on your navel will help you remember the difference between you and me," said Kukkaku as she rubbed her own jaw where Saito had managed to hit her and a few other places. For a weak starving man he hit hard, hard enough to impress her so she took him out of the shop and had him working as a bodyguard for her until his spiritual power was discovered and he went off to become a shinigami, leaving her without her favorite playmate.

Now here she was seeing him welcomed back to the home which had him expelled so long ago and she was glad to see that he was back among the friends who had been sadden to have to force him into exile. Looking around, she couldn't help but notice the nervousness in Yammamoto's face when he looked at Saito Haijime walking in a captain's coat with his sword by his side. It was that sword that made Yammamoto nervous, or more importantly, what was in the sword because the soul of the zanpakto is what made Saito an exile. She had often times asked Saito not use Sesshomaru because she knew his secret, she knew that the soul of his sword wasn't his only one, it was just the one that Saito had put into the sword. But she would have to keep that secret safe and she aimed to always do that for the man she loved and to never betray his trust. She loved him too much to do that, loved him too much to tell others that the soul in his sword was the hollow of his own brother, trapped in the sword by his brother's choosing so the two would always fight together.

It was one of those secrets that only they both knew, but Kukkaku was keeping a secret that only she knew because she didn't know how she could tell him. Then again, she couldn't deny that the evidence was right there in the shinigami academy, her son and his son, Takashi. Their son looked so much like then, his black hair a mirror image of Kukkaku's shock of coarse black hair and he had his father's bravado and charm, but his eyes were a mixture of red and gold surrounded a narrow black slit, something she thought was contributed from Saito's sword. Kukkaku was certain that the moment he was sent to Saito's division, Saito would know who it was. But where did it all start to come to this, the moment where she dreaded her son seeing his father for the first time. She thought back to that fateful day in the training room.

**FLASHBACK**

Kukkaku thought she would go down to see her old friend Saito when he was training and see if he could have a match with her, it had been some time since they had a match and the shinigami was actually becoming a match for her. She didn't have a zanpakto like the shinigami could, nor did she have any special training in kidos like the shinigami did. She was purely self taught, just like her father was and just like Saito was, with her sword that was imbued with the spirit of a fallen dragon, or so it was said. Most people didn't believe that many of the stories and often believed them to be nothing but fairy tales yet her sword was special. It what her father had given to her before he went to help the shinigami in their fight against the Quincies, but she had always made up for her lack of training. Saito, however, was no Kenpachi, he didn't come out of his hell with incredible fighting style, he had to be trained a bit to get his full potential out of the open and soon found that he had an amazing ability. The only problem about him was that he was a runaway; he left an abusive household and his brother behind. By the time he had finally come back his brother was already a broken shell and that lead to the worse fate of all, for he was made a hollow by his hatred for everything and Saito was forced to defeat him. It was then that Saito had given him the best weapon, the zanpakto that resided in his soul, the one that was his soul's essence, everything that would make him whole.

She peered into the room to she Saito hammering away at one of his comrades while the other ones were watching with the greatest fear as they knew that Urahara was going to have them attack Saito to test the medicine that he had given them. Saito was more than happy to oblige the good captain of thirteenth division. A smirk spread across her face as she watched him moving around and knew it was her perfect chance to try on Saito. Waiting for the last man to leave the training room, Kukkaku immediately made her presence known by smoking her pipe, the scent of tobacco immediately getting Saito's attention as he turned around and looked at the person standing in the doorway with her sword in her arm and her pipe in her mouth. His tongue ran across his lips as he licked them and then waited for her to make the first move, but his impatience got the better of him as he lunged forward with his sword in an impressive show of a flash step, but it lacked Yurouchi's speed.

Kukkaku dove under the sword and swept kick his legs out from under him, but found that he was using his sword to balance him and help his landing. She smiled at the thought of how much he had improved from being her student to now it appeared to be her equal. She used her own sword to block his attacks and was doing well; right up to the part where he released his shikai and then the fight started looking unfavorable for her. Then it she used the only weapon that she knew would be able to stop him in mid attack. She pushed the covering over one her large breasts until it showed a hint of nipple, not much, but enough to make Saito forget what he was doing and enough time for her to throw a punch and send him into a wall. She hadn't meant for it to have been like that but she swore that his outstretched hand was getting closer to her breast and she panicked. She ran to see if he was okay but when she got to where he was he was ready for her. With a quick movement, he managed to grab her leg and pull it out from under her, giving him a shot of her white panties that made his hakama tighter than it should have been. By the time she had realized he had gotten her on her back she felt his lips on hers and his tongue rubbing against her lips. They had kissed once, but it was just for fun, never was it to be this passionate kiss that he was giving her now.

He did wonders with her and by the bulge that she felt on her thighs, he was preparing to do so many other things to her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Getting to know your Captain

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

* * *

Ichigo woke up late without his father waking him up with a kick instead of the alarm waking him up; in the long run it made it so that he could only wake when he was kicked. He wouldn't wake until Rukia, at her wits end and being told to run over to his room in the, kicked him out of his bed with a force that threw him from the futon and he crashed into the wall of his room. Adding insult to injury, his head was caught in the wall and it took a while for him to finally pull it out. He turned around to see Rukia staring at him, so confident that she wouldn't be hurt because she was in another squad, but she was proven wrong as ichigo got up and got her into a headlock as he started to rub his knuckles into her head.

"Ah, you can't do that, I'm your superior," cried Rukia as she tried to fight her way out of Ichigo's grasp, but his grip was too tight for her to try and slip out of. "Gomen nasai! I give! I give!"

"Okay then," said Ichigo as he let go of her and waited for her to turn around and try to fix her hair to ask, "So what are our orders today?"

"**Ichigo**," said Rukia so slowly and dangerously that Ichigo thought she was having a moment of contact with her inner hollow, but he could see that she was still the same just now she was releasing her murderous rage.

"Now Rukia, let's not got to hasty it was just a joke," said Ichigo as he backed up from the angry vice-captain and as he backed up he found that the door had slid open causing Ichigo to fall back and look into the eyes of his captain.

"Sorry for disturbing whatever you were doing just arrive in the practice room when you two are done," said Saito as he walked out and left Ichigo to try and get away from Rukia, but it was futile as she pulled him back into the room.

"Please don't hurt me," cried Ichigo as he was being pulled in the room, nails scratching at the floor trying to get off before his exit was closed to him. "Wait now Rukia can't we talk about this? I was only joking and you can fix your hair can't you?"

"Do you know how much energy I put in keeping my hair just like this and un ruffled," asked Rukia, her anger seeping through into her fists and transforming her aura from blue to a violent red. "It takes me a total of two hours the get my hair into the straight, perfect black hair that is never messy and after putting so much energy into it you go and mess it up!"

Ichigo tried to call out for help, but the scream was caught in his throat and all he could get out was a low sound that sounded like a man screaming as he fell down a cliff. The next sound that came from the room was the sound of a large thump and then a crash that sounded out through everywhere. One place of note that you could hear and feel the sound from was at the Tenth division Captain's office as Captain Toshirou Hitsugaya was trying to drink some tea, but as he reached for it the loud thump caused his tea to spill all over the papers that he had been doing.

* * *

"Okay now that we are done doing whatever we were doing this morning we will be showing each other our strengths," announced Saito as he stood with one leg on a foot stool and the other foot rested firmly on the ground with his sword out and prepared to strike. "Now then, you can both attack me at the same time first or fight me separately then attack me at once, whichever method is preferable to you."

"I think I'll try you out one on one just to get a feel for how you fight," said Ichigo as he got up and hefted his sword into a sword fighter's position and he could see Saito looking at Rukia, who only nodded her agreement that this was Ichigo's fight and only Ichigo's fight. She would have no part in this.

"Okay then now that we have that out of the way I believe I can safely assume that you won't lose to me with an unreleased zanpakto," said Saito as he once again called on his zanpakto and Ichigo could feel a slight chill coming from Saito as he did this. "Now then Ichigo come at with all you've got or put your sword down."

Ichigo stabbed at Saito who just smacked the sword and then did a backlash attack at the young third-seat, who blocked it quickly but the force of the attack knocked him back a bit. With little time to catch his breath, Ichigo jumped back onto the wall and then used it as a catalyst to push himself forward for the attack on Saito. Saito jumped back from the attacked and attacked the man with his sword, but Saito started to use his speed to move around the room quickly catching Ichigo by surprise. What Saito didn't know was that Ichigo had been training under Yuruichi so that he could match the speed of the captain, but the captain still had the advantage of maneuverability since he had been using flash stepping for longer than Ichigo had. As Ichigo moved in for the kill, Saito flash stepped forward then back causing a jerking force to add to the power of his backward stab and he would have skewered Ichigo had Rukia not summoned a kido to momentarily bind Saito until he broke it, giving Ichigo enough time to move back.

"Wait Rukia, this is my fight with him, you shouldn't try getting involved," shouted Ichigo at Rukia and her expression was one of anger but Saito could see behind it at the hurt that was displayed clearly on her face. The only person who was ignorant to it was Ichigo.

"Baka, he could have killed you for attacking like you had no sense at all," scolded Rukia as she hit him on the head. "Who do you think you are to attack without proper defense of your body? You're not Zaraki Kenpachi! You can't take a lot of stabs and still survive from it!"

"What do you mean I was just in the middle of flash stepping back," countered ichigo but he was immediately shut down by Rukia.

"Get up and let me help you face him before you get seriously injured," said Rukia as she moved back and prepared to fight Saito, but Ichigo put his arm in front of her.

"Are you kidding, you think you stepping in is going to do that much after all the times I've had to save you," shouted Ichigo and he was met by another slap from Rukia that sent him back a bit.

"Don't think that you don't need help occasionally! You are the worst one trying to fight everything by yourself and too stupid to see anything that's in front of you, even that people that care about you! All you think about is being 'Ichigo the hero' and board yourself up to everyone, even those that may love you. That's why Orihime doesn't chase after you anymore, she realized how stupid she was to try and chase after ichigo, he is too busy riding the top and remembering his own pain that he forgets he isn't the only one who feels hurt! I'm just too stupid to give up and try to find someone else!"

"What," asked a confused Ichigo who had been feeling the verbal slaps to his face, but the last one was a power punch that left him dazed and confused. "You said something about you being too stupid to give up. What do you mean by that?"

"I'm sure that if you really thought about it instead of just shutting everything out you'll realize what I'm talking about," said Rukia and without she ran off from the practice back to the Kuchiki family residence.

"What did she mean about that," asked Ichigo as he looked at his captain who was putting his blade back in its sheath.

"You've gone through life expecting other people to lead the way to you when you didn't understand but you'll never truly master your zanpakto if you don't know yourself," said Saito as he strung his sword up and then looked at Ichigo. "But I would use your flashstep very sparingly and don't try to attack with it until you've master it or someone stronger might stab you. For now I think you have to do some looking deep into yourself again and ask yourself that question or more importantly that hollow inside you."

"How do you know about him," asked Ichigo as he backed up a bit, not even all of the captains knew about it.

"My sword can sense it and I can sense it, my hollow and I are _**One**_," said Saito, his face turning a bit to show the hollow mask that was so frightening to Ichigo. _**"We both know each other and the other knows exactly what the other side wants, including the ones we love." **_

_****_"I can't do that fully but I am getting better at it," said Ichigo and then he thought truly about what Saito sad and decided that he had nothing to lose by doing it. "Thank you for the information, Saito."

"Captain Haijime to you, third seat Kurasaki," corrected Saito as he walked out only to hear Hitsugaya complaining about "spilled tea."


End file.
